Calcium-wick lamp.



No. s55,||2. Patented .Iuly 3|, I900.

A. PLECHER.

CALCIUM WICK LAMP.

(Application-filed Jan. 20, 1900.) (No Model.)

FFICEQ ANDREW PLEOHER, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.

HCALCIU'M-WICK LAMP.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 655,112, dated auiei, 1900. Applicatio'n filed January 20,1900. $erial No. 21170. (NoDiode.)

To on whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW PLECHER, of

Savannah, in the county of Chatham and State of Georgia, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Calcium -Wick Lamps, of which thefollowing is a specification. I My invention is in the nature of a novelform of lamp in which the light is produced by the incandescence of apiece of lime which serves by capillary action to draw up a combustibleliquid and is surrounded by a hollow ring having minute holes through itopening toward the lime rwick and through which oxygen gas is forced toproduce an intense heat by the burning of the combustible liquid,causing the lime to glow with a brilliant incandescence, as hereinafterfully described with reference to the drawings, in which' Figure l is aside View of thelamp'; Fig. 2, a vertical central section, and Fig. 3 ahori= zontal section on line 3 3.?

In the drawings, P is a fount or reservoir containing petroleum-oil orany other combustible hydrocarbon.

C is a wick of cylindrical shape constructed of lime as a solid pencilor rod and moving up and down within a suitable tube 0 by means of aratchet-shaft R in the usual way.

F is the burner-frame, which is screwed upon the neck of the reservoirPand carries the wick-tube. Where the lime wick passes through the tube,there should be a collar 0', of asbestos or other soft indestructiblebut tightly-fitting material, which packs the joint between the limepencil and the wick-tube to prevent'too-rapid escape of oil fromevaporation.

Carried upon the burner-frame F there is a tubular ring A, whichcommunicates with a supply-pipe 0, leading ofi to one side and connectedwith a reservoir of oxygen gas under the requisite pressure. The tubularring A surrounds the lime Wick and is provided with a circular series ofholes on its inner side that allows a series of jets of oxygen gas toimpinge upon the lime wick. This lime wick becomes incandescent only atthe points where the jets of oxygen impinge upon it mixed with asufiicient quantity of hydrocarbon Vapor to produce an intensecombustion and high heat. It will be understood that the heat of theupper end of the .wick vaporizes the hydrocarbon drawn up by capillaryaction in the lower part of the wick and forms a surrounding zone offuel-gas which rises and combines with the oxygen, the oil rising fromcapillarity in the lime to a suflicient height to permit this tocontinually take place and without any destructive action upon the limepencil; whose strength and unity below the incandescent part are notmaterially affected. p

As the lime is a poor conductor of heat, and only the upper end of thewick is heated, and there is a constant upfiow of the oil, thetemperature of the oil-fount isnot raised to any great extent, and inorder to relieve this tend ency as far as possible the lime wick andburner should be made longer than in the ordinary lamp.

Mounted upon the burner-frame F there are two concentric glass chimneysG and GT, held firmlyin suitable annular seats in the burnerframe, theouter one, G, being made shorter than the inner one, and the air whichis admitted to the lamp along with the oxygen passes over the top of theouter chimney G and down between the two chimneys, thus serving thedouble purpose of heating the air to stimulate the combustion and at thesame time to reduce the temperature of the inner chimney. l

Instead of using a pencil or cylinder of lime to form the wick asbestosor any other refractory and incombustible substance may be used whichhas sufficient capillary action without being injuriously affected bythe heat.

I am aware of the fact that the lime pencil has been used in connectionwith the oxyhydrogen blowpipe to form the so-called calcium light andthat asbestos lamp-wicks are also old, and I do not claim either ofthese things.

Having thus described my inventionjwhat 5 I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1.- A lamp having an absorbent wick made of refractory incombnstiblematerial combined with a pipe having perforations for directing jets ofoxygen directly against the upper end of the wick, the said wick beingboth a feeder of oil by capillary action and incandescing at its upperend by the combustion IOO of oxygen with the hydrocarbon vaporsvolatilized from the wick below by the heat of incandescencesubstantially as described. 2. A lamp having a cylindrical absorbentWick made of a refractory-incombustible material possessing capillaryaction, combined with a hollow ring-shaped tube arranged horizontallyand surrounding said Wick and havin g perforations on its inner side tocause jets of oxygen to impinge against the wick substantially as andfor the purpose described 3. A lamp having a non-combustible absorbentwick, a hollow horizontal ring embracing the same and providedWithperfora-

